Groupon Guide

Sometimes, having closets, racks, and cubbies still isn’t enough to stop shoes from gathering in a pile around the door. What should you do when they start traveling in packs rather than in pairs? Well, we called Kim Cosentino.
Kim is a professional organizer and owner of The De-Clutter Box, based in suburban Chicago. She’s helped us out before with her hanger trick, so we were confident she’d know how to handle strewn-about kicks.
“It’s just a mess that piles up,” Kim said, and as boots come out, it’s only going to get worse. “It piles up through the whole winter season and gets out of control.”
Organizing the entryway—Kim calls it the “landing and launching pad”—makes a world of a difference. And thankfully, keeping it clear involves only two steps: giving everyone’s shoes a home and keeping those homes neat.
Step One: Give Shoes a Home
Kim said to pick your shoe-storage method based on your space. You don’t have to spend a ton of money on a trendy shelf, either: work with what you have, or find deals at big-box stores. (We feature shoe organizers regularly on Groupon Goods, too.) Here are a few options:
Shoe stackers and metal shoe racks
Made of a sturdy material, such as wood fiberboard, shoe stackers create shelves for shoes while still leaving room for a row on the floor.
Similarly, metal shoe racks make it easy to assign a tier to every person in the home. If you have a big family (or room for a lot of shoes), you can buy a tall free-standing unit or mount one high on the wall. Some units can hold as many as 50 pairs!
Kim also said that some families keep their shoe racks in the garage, which is a useful workaround if you have a small, closet-less entryway. Boot racks in particular help to corral winter boots so that you don’t track snow inside.
Hanging shoe organizers
These organizers hang from the rod in the closet, and their compartments make it easy to sort your shoes (and boots!).
This is a great option for people who have bigger closets in the entryway. Hanging bags aren’t just useful for shoes, either—you can also use them as cubbies for hats, gloves, and scarves.
Baskets
Shoes may look neat lined up all in a row, but sometimes, that’s just not realistic. A basket by the front door can keep them contained with little effort. There are plenty of pretty storage baskets out there, but Kim said that an old laundry basket does the job just as well.
Step Two: Keep It Neat
OK, you have your shoes neatly stacked on the shelf, piled in a basket, or tucked in a hanging organizer. But if you stop there, you’re going to find yourself in the same predicament soon enough. How do you keep it neat?
Limit, assign, and label
Assigning everyone a spot helps keep shoes contained to the right area. “The main thing is to give everybody limits,” Kim said. “These shelves are yours, this basket is yours. … Labeling just reminds people.”
Schedule a day to refresh
Don’t just set a limit on space—set a limit on time, too. “Every Friday, take all your shoes off the shoe shelf [in the entryway] and put them back in the closet,” Kim said. “Then, start fresh next week.”
Don’t bring all your seasonal shoes out at once
Kim recommends keeping your fall boots and loafers in the storage bin. Only bring out a pair if you want to wear it. This system makes it easy to see what shoes you’re not really wearing anymore so you can weed them out for donation or the trash.
Keep the stilettos in the closet
“You want to separate out your everyday shoes,” Kim said. Keep those by the door, and keep your “once-in-a-while” shoes on the top shelf, in a bedroom closet, or in an under-the-bed shoe organizer.
Photos by Rachel Matuch, Groupon
Shop organization products from Groupon Goods and ideel:
Hanging Boot Organizer
Shoe Tower
Under-Bed Shoe Organizer
Make your life even more orderly with the Guide:
The Hanger Trick and Other Fall Closet Tips
Turn a Silverware Tray into a Jewelry Organizer

Confession time: There is a candle in every room of my apartment. In some rooms, there is more than one. They smell amazing, they make my home feel like a spa retreat, and I’m not going to apologize.
Of course, fall is prime candle season, which means that my candle-hoarding habit really gets going. This was one of the hardest posts I’ve ever had to write—yes, harder than the one about V-steam—because it took me forever to narrow down my five favorite scents. Here they are, finally!
Yankee Candle in Apple Spice ($24.99)
If you asked me what the holiday season smells like, I wouldn’t say candy canes or sugarplums. (Does anyone actually know what a sugarplum is?) Instead, I’d say this candle. Something about the scent of warm apples reminds me of being home for Christmas.
Voluspa Japonica Candle from Anthropologie ($18)
With its patterned red tin, this candle doubles as chic autumnal decor. Its scents are probably the fanciest on this list: Santiago Huckleberry, Baltic Amber, French Cade Lavender, and more. The most impressive thing about this little coconut-wax candle, though, is its burn time: 80 hours! That’s enough time for at least 26.6 eyelash extension appointments!
Pumpkin Souffle Fireside Candle from Life’s Little Luxuries ($16.95)
I know that pumpkin is played out, but this candle is legitimately amazing. It has a wooden wick, so it crackles like a campfire when it’s lit. And it doesn’t just smell like pumpkin—it smells like pumpkin, sugar, and butter. When I burn it, it feels like Betty Crocker is in the house somewhere (in a non-creepy way).
Sweet Almond and Macaroon Home Candle from Jo Malone ($65)
If you’re going to spend more than $50 on a candle, might I suggest this one? It has notes of cherry, vanilla, and coconut along with the almond and macaroon scents. Plus, it makes any room a touch fancier.
Threshold Layered Tahitian Vanilla/Amber/Sandalwood Pillar Wax Candle from Target ($6.49)
I’m a sucker for any 2-in-1 deal, so this candle knocks it out of the park. Just when you’re wishing you could move on from vanilla, the scent changes to amber! I love the fall colors and the cool pendant it comes with, too.
Bonus Candle: DIY!
The next-best thing to buying something that smells amazing? Making something that smells amazing. The beautiful candles in the photo above were hand-poured by Jessica Duff, fellow Groupon employee and owner of Milton and Margie’s Soy Wax Candles. A while back, we asked Jess for instructions on how to create a candle from scratch, and she delivered. Click here to learn how to make your own fall-scented candle!
Still can’t get enough candles? Shop candles and fragrances on Groupon Goods!
Bottom photo: Andrew Nawrocki, Groupon